Durban - Armed men stormed the Durban North offices of businessman S’bu Mpisane a day before tax fraud charges were withdrawn against his wife Shauwn, beating up his security staff before fleeing empty-handed.
Mpisane said the men came in looking for him and left after finding he was not there. He has chosen not to report the incident, believing the attack was intended to scare him.
“It’s strange that this happened on Thursday night, just one day before my wife was due in court to hear her acquittal. I have no doubt we are being targeted because someone couldn’t get what they wanted and sought revenge.
“They didn’t steal anything, so robbery was not the motive. A group of armed guys came in, roughed up my security men, beating them with guns, looked around, then left. But we will not be scared off. I’m here, ready and waiting,” he said.
The couple have since beefed up security and say they will not let the incident affect their lives.
“I sometimes wonder if this is political. Is there an attempt to use us as pawns in a political game? Are we being set up by the opposition to fail so that there can be no service delivery of houses in this province?
“It’s all very strange that charges have been withdrawn yet we are not told what will happen to the prosecutor accused of unprofessional conduct or investigations into Shauwn’s evidence of a Sars official seeking a bribe from her.
“This case was a fabrication from the start and the sudden withdrawal of charges without a valid reason confirms it,” he said.
However, several tax experts who did not wish to be named as they deal with Sars professionally cited a weak legal team as the reasons for the collapse of the case against Shauwn Mpisane, who walked away from over 100 counts of tax fraud.
Approached for comment, Sars spokesman Adrian Lackey said: “The decision to prosecute, the actual prosecution and any related aspect of the prosecution are matters that fall under the statutory mandate of the National Prosecuting Authority. Sars cannot comment on behalf of the NPA.”
Sunday Tribune